Further Reading

Review: The heart of a laptop it may be, but I want the body of a laptop, too.

I've never actually considered buying one of Microsoft's Surface tablets. It's not because they're bad machines or because of some specific distaste for Windows or something—it's just that I spend most of my time on my computers writing, and when I'm writing on a laptop, I'm almost always using the device on my lap. The Surface Touch and Type covers have their virtues, but they absolutely need a stable desk or table to be used. When combined with the Surface tablet, the system is shaky on your lap at best.

Microsoft made light of this foible at the Surface Pro 3 announcement today, taking care to highlight how many of the assembled press and analysts were using MacBook Airs to do their liveblogs and take their notes. I was one of those people, so a substantial portion of the announcement was aimed specifically at me (and my kind). Here's a Surface tablet you can use on your lap, as you would a laptop.

Challenge accepted, Microsoft! When Panos Panay and the other Microsoft execs left the stage, I stowed my MacBook Air in my bag, grabbed my Surface review unit from the cart, and found a couch. This entire hands-on post was written with the Surface Pro 3 in my lap, and I kind of liked it.

Going lap-on

Hands-on with the Surface Pro 3, by Casey Johnston.

The Type Cover now has a magnetic strip running across the top that you fold flat to the front of the tablet. Before you fold it, the Type Cover is usable but uncomfortable and wobbly. After folding it, it's still not as rock-solid as a non-removable aluminum base, but it's a much more laptop-like typing experience.

The keyboard is more stable, but the new kickstand comes into play here, too. The original Surface Pro supported one kickstand angle (22 degrees) while the Surface Pro 2 supported two (24 and 40 degrees). The Surface Pro 3 is more like a laptop in that its kickstand is pretty stable at any angle, so when you have the thing on your lap, you can point the screen at your face basically however you want. Looking at it from the front, it's easy to forget that you're not using a laptop.

It's not quite the same as using a laptop, though. For one thing, the unfolded kickstand and the keyboard cover combined expand to take up a wide swath of one's lap—the whole apparatus extends nearly to my knees, and I'm not a short person. Those with less expansive laps may need to do a little maneuvering to fit the whole thing. You're also going to have to keep your lap mostly level. If one of your legs is raised higher than the other, the kickstand and keyboard become more wobbly again.

The worst part, at least relative to the MacBook Air and the best Ultrabooks, is the Type Cover itself. It's a relatively shallow chiclet keyboard with mostly full-size keys, though the up and down arrow keys and some on the left and right of the keyboard are a little squeezed to conserve space. The backlight is nice, and I was quickly typing at my usual speeds, but the key travel is too shallow to be as satisfying or responsive as a normal keyboard. It's merely good, not great.

For what it's worth, the trackpad in the Type Cover actually seems reasonably good. Usually when I review a Windows laptop, the first thing I do is update the trackpad driver and tweak the sensitivity settings until they feel reasonable, but I didn't have any problems with palm rejection or accuracy while I was typing this article. My only complaint is that it's a little small—on older laptops with smaller trackpads, I've seen some users have trouble because it's too easy to accidentally invoke the Windows 8 trackpad gestures, but that's not an issue I ran into. If one of your key complaints about previous Surfaces was that they were insufficient laptop replacements, the Surface Pro 3 hits much nearer the mark.

The rest of the system

We'll be able to go a little more in-depth with the system (including the pen input) when we publish our full review, but for now we'll run through some of the important specs so you know more about what you're getting if you preorder one of these today.

Let's start with the specs. Though we speculated that Microsoft would have to use one of the ultra-low-voltage Y-series Haswell CPUs to make the system thin and light enough, our review loaner has the same Core i5-4300U used in the revised last-generation Surface Pro (Core i3 and Core i7 options will also be available). Performance isn't going to go up much, and the Intel HD 4400 integrated GPU means this thing won't be much of a gamer, but we're impressed that Microsoft was able to make the tablet thinner and lighter without sacrificing speed,

The tablet also has an 802.11ac adapter from Marvell, an upgrade from the 802.11n adapter in the Surface Pro 2. Our review loaner includes 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive from Samsung on a SATA III interface. With its i5 processor, this configuration costs $1,299.

The body of the tablet is lighter than the Surface Pro 2 (800g versus 903g), though it remains considerably heavier than something like Apple's iPad Air (469g) or even the older fourth-generation Retina iPads (652g). It's not going to break your arms, but it's definitely more similar to a laptop in its weight than most other tablets.

The 12-inch, 2160×1440 display compensates for the added weight. It's a reasonably bright, sharp 216 PPI display, which puts it within striking distance of the 15- and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros (220 and 227 PPI, respectively). Its 3:2 aspect ratio will please those who prefer taller monitors to wider ones, though using the tablet in portrait mode isn't really any more comfortable than with any other large widescreen tablet—it's just a little too large to be as comfortable as the paper notepad that Panay compared it to.

We've seen in other high-PPI Windows laptop reviews that this relatively high pixel density can cause problems with applications on the Windows desktop, though the Surface 3 Pro seems to strike a decent balance. By default, it's set to display onscreen elements at 150 percent their normal size, which shouldn't cause quite as many obvious UI problems as higher scaling settings. While using Chrome, an app that doesn't support Windows' high-PPI scaling modes properly, text and images was noticeably blurrier compared to Internet Explorer, but not so blurry that it was unusable or even immediately noticeable if you didn't know what you were looking for.

Enlarge/ We'll test more about the system (including the pen input) in our full review.

Casey Johnston

Finally, the build quality is as good as we've come to expect from the Surface lineup. The magnesium chassis is nice-looking and solid-feeling, and the hinge was perfectly stable as long as I kept my lap level. The system gets a little warm to the touch, and Microsoft's demo booth was too loud for me to put Microsoft's ultra-quiet fan assembly to the test, but the fan vent along the edges of the tablet is unobtrusive, and you can't feel any hot air coming out of it.

We'll be giving the pen, the battery life, and the performance a more thorough look in our full review. Based on our hour of usage, though, we're comfortable saying that the Surface Pro 3 is at least a little bit closer to being a suitable laptop replacement than the older versions. It might not be exactly what you're looking for in a tablet, but if you were on the fence about the Surface Pro 2, this is probably the device you needed to knock you over.

I love my surface pro (original model) and maybe it is getting close to upgrade time. I am not a road warrior, so battery life has never been an issue, even on the original surface. If I had to make any complaint, it would be that the stylus doesn't have a home, and is too easy to lose. I don't know if this new one shares the magnet with the charging system like the older ones (which I also don't like), and I get that the thing is jammed packed and there is no room for a stylus holder internally, there must be SOMETHING better than the way it works now.

I'm also curious about how well it'll work as a tablet. I've got an HP Envy x2, an 11.6" Win8 slate with a netbook style keydock, and found that as a tablet it was a bit too big to comfortably use handheld. It wasn't so much weight that was the problem, but that it was big enough that the torque from holding it from a single side even for short durations was more than I was comfortable with.

I'm also curious about how well it'll work as a tablet. I've got an HP Envy x2, an 11.6" Win8 slate with a netbook style keydock, and found that as a tablet it was a bit too big to comfortably use handheld. It wasn't so much weight that was the problem, but that it was big enough that the torque from holding it from a single side even for short durations was more than I was comfortable with.

Likely with its size, you'd hold it more like a notepad than a tablet, cradled against the arm.

At that size and aspect ratio, it's great for reading and marking up letter-sized content, a lot of technical books, and comics/manga. Narrow screens are not very good in portrait orientation. In OneNote alone, the added width makes it much more usable with a pen.

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

I really like the 150% scaling on the Surface 2 line. It's a nice balance on the 10" screen, and text looks very clear and sharp. It also seems reasonably usable on the desktop, but as usual, you are at the mercy of whatever x86 application you need to run. I just run Office and Explorer, and they look very nice. It's good to see MS stick to that for round 3.

When is the last time you could buy a new Windows laptop/tablet/convertible with a 3:2 aspect-ratio screen? I think this is a pretty big change from manufacturers' move towards 16:9 in recent years, and while reviews like this do mention it, I'm surprised that that's not attracting more focus in the discussions.

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

Probably because they're already pushing the limit of "too many models".

I love my surface pro (original model) and maybe it is getting close to upgrade time. I am not a road warrior, so battery life has never been an issue, even on the original surface. If I had to make any complaint, it would be that the stylus doesn't have a home, and is too easy to lose. I don't know if this new one shares the magnet with the charging system like the older ones (which I also don't like), and I get that the thing is jammed packed and there is no room for a stylus holder internally, there must be SOMETHING better than the way it works now.

If you look closely at the 3rd image down, it looks like the Type Cover has some kind of pen holder loop on it.

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

Probably because they're already pushing the limit of "too many models".

Anyway, I get that, but I personally fit in the latter category and I absolutely love the increased portability that my Pro 2 gives me. I have it with me all the time, whereas I wouldn't be carry a 12" device quite as well (wouldn't fit in my bicycle bag, for example). But of course, thinner and lighter is always nice too.

I don't know. Like I said, I suspect it's just the fact they can't do much more in a 10.6" device without Broadwell.

So nice to see someone look at the #1 reason I will probably never get a tablet.

At least for my rather screwy sitting patterns (which I change every couple of minutes) it still doesn't seem to have quiet the unquestionable solidity I would demand.

Nice I guess to know the problem is being considered.

I don't understand this sentiment. I actually don't care for tablets at all - they always just felt like less capable laptops to me, but at similar price points to a mid-range laptop. I can see a couple of use cases where the tablet form would be useful, but not very many, and definitely not at their current cost. At the same time, I don't understand when people say "I'll never buy a tablet because it doesn't function like a laptop". Of course it doesn't function like a laptop; it isn't one.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, btw, it's just that this kind of thing has confused me for a while; if a device costs nearly as much as a laptop, doesn't perform as well as a laptop, and it's main characteristic that you dislike is that you can't use it as a laptop, why don't you just go out and buy a laptop?

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

Probably because they're already pushing the limit of "too many models".

Anyway, I get that, but I personally fit in the latter category and I absolutely love the increased portability that my Pro 2 gives me. I have it with me all the time, whereas I wouldn't be carry a 12" device quite as well (wouldn't fit in my bicycle bag, for example). But of course, thinner and lighter is always nice too.

I don't know. Like I said, I suspect it's just the fact they can't do much more in a 10.6" device without Broadwell.

There's actually 5, so then you have 10 different options, and that's before even we consider the changes you have to make, component-wise, when offering a 12" and a 10.6"

The pen parallax and responsiveness seems decent. I'd like to see it reviewed within something like Photoshop, Paint or Manga Studio in the full review, if possible!

Is the parallax a default setting, or does it use the camera to estimate where your eyes are and adjust it on the fly? I didn't see the live text of the presentation.

That I don't know, but in the Wacom world there's a little util you run that has you sit where you would usually sit in front of the device and then, without moving your head, tap 4 corner targets in sequence in order to set the calibration.

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

Probably because they're already pushing the limit of "too many models".

Anyway, I get that, but I personally fit in the latter category and I absolutely love the increased portability that my Pro 2 gives me. I have it with me all the time, whereas I wouldn't be carry a 12" device quite as well (wouldn't fit in my bicycle bag, for example). But of course, thinner and lighter is always nice too.

I don't know. Like I said, I suspect it's just the fact they can't do much more in a 10.6" device without Broadwell.

There's actually 5, so then you have 10 different options, and that's before even we consider the changes you have to make, component-wise, when offering a 12" and a 10.6"

Are you referring to the different specs? That's not really a different model. It's upgrades of the same model. You don't really consider all the different CPUs when you count the many different MacBook models, do you?

Or do you mean the different generation devices? Pro 1 is already phased out, and you'd have to assume the RT 1 will be phased out soon too. If they're still going to be selling Pro 2, then that's not really all that different from selling a Pro 3 10.6" and a Pro 3 12" when it comes to 'having too many models'.

It's moot anyway, I just don't think it makes much sense (unless again, they were limited by still needing to use Haswell).

The quality of the keys in the keyboard are crucial for a laptop (or if a person uses a keyboard with a tablet).I've tried Surface keyboards and their quality have been lacking (due to limited key travel). Andrew indicates that this remains a problem.

I also noticed the photo of the Surface Pro 3 with keyboard and that the bottom of the screen almost touches the keyboard. If I wanted to touch the bottom icons on the screen with my finger that would be difficult.

I'm still left with the impression that I'll keep using both a laptop and a tablet.

Handy article as my first thought when reading the information about the surface pro 3 was could it be used on a lap this time? I have a Vaio Duo 11 which has its downsides but the design works extremely well for use on a lap as the sliding system keeps the footprint small and the screen reasonably close. Plus it's the only device of this type that has standard ethernet hdmi and vga ports. I've been keeping an eye out for something to replace it with particularly as the keyboard isn't that good but seems I'll need to keep on looking.

The quality of the keys in the keyboard are crucial for a laptop (or if a person uses a keyboard with a tablet).I've tried Surface keyboards and their quality have been lacking (due to limited key travel). Andrew indicates that this remains a problem.

I also noticed the photo of the Surface Pro 3 with keyboard and that the bottom of the screen almost touches the keyboard. If I wanted to touch the bottom icons on the screen with my finger that would be difficult.

I'm still left with the impression that I'll keep using both a laptop and a tablet.

That's only if you fold it up against the tablet; it can sit flat on a table with the same amount of bezel as is current if you wish. The folding is mostly for stability for lap usage and would work fine on a table or desk without doing that.

How many people code or write books with their laptops on their knees anyway? If you're doing "proper" stuff, you're probably at some kind of stable thing like a desk or table, not on your knees.If you're doing less important stuff you might be on your knees, but I can't imagine people getting deep into coding or writing with their device on their knees unless they are forced into the situation by circumstance, which is something you would mostly try and avoid.

No mention of LTE in the reviews? Jeez, the one thing a LOT of business users have been complaining about with the Pro since the 1st one is lack of LTE. Is Microsoft offering any idea if the Surface Pro 3's will come with an LTE? I can count at least a dozen major companies that would love to jump on a device like this to simplify the need of a laptop and tablet if only 4G/LTE were included with it. It really comes across like Microsoft is aiming both barrels of the proverbial shotgun at the foot by not including 4G/LTE out the gate or at least as an option at all. Having to tether to a cell or 4G/LTE hotspot is a major inconvenience for a number of road warriors out there, not to mention creating the need for carrying additonal devices (isn't that going in the face of the 'no longer needing a laptop' concept that Microsoft is portraying with the 3 Pro?).

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

Probably because they're already pushing the limit of "too many models".

Anyway, I get that, but I personally fit in the latter category and I absolutely love the increased portability that my Pro 2 gives me. I have it with me all the time, whereas I wouldn't be carry a 12" device quite as well (wouldn't fit in my bicycle bag, for example). But of course, thinner and lighter is always nice too.

I don't know. Like I said, I suspect it's just the fact they can't do much more in a 10.6" device without Broadwell.

There's actually 5, so then you have 10 different options, and that's before even we consider the changes you have to make, component-wise, when offering a 12" and a 10.6"

Are you referring to the different specs? That's not really a different model. It's upgrades of the same model. You don't really consider all the different CPUs when you count the many different MacBook models, do you?

Or do you mean the different generation devices? Pro 1 is already phased out, and you'd have to assume the RT 1 will be phased out soon too. If they're still going to be selling Pro 2, then that's not really all that different from selling a Pro 3 10.6" and a Pro 3 12" when it comes to 'having too many models'.

It's moot anyway, I just don't think it makes much sense (unless again, they were limited by still needing to use Haswell).

Just as Apple considers there to be a couple main models of any given computer line, which are differentiated not only by screen size, but by CPU and spec size (see the iMac where there are two separate "models" of 21.5" iMacs), Microsoft has chosen to segment the SP3 into the i3, i5, and i7 categories, with there being 2 separate models for the i5 and i7 category, but only one in the i3 category. That's how it will be presented to the customer.

So, if you put a 10.6" in there, now the customer sees 10 different offerings. There's not a lot of upside to that from a marketing standpoint, and from a technical standpoint, having to fit everything in the 10.6" that fits in the 12" would be very difficult (and you'd want that 1:1 parity, otherwise the selection process becomes even more convoluted).

Remember: Most people who buy computing devices are not techies. They will pick the device that is closest to their needs, not nit-pick about the stuff that would be better.

How does the onboard GPU handle that high resolution display? Any issues with the UI stuttering?

For that matter, how does Windows' scaling handle the high resolution display? I know most say it's typically a crapshoot, but with a flagship MS product, I figure they ought to be able to make it play mostly nice.

Honestly, I'd still rather have a Pro 3 with the thinner and lighter chassis in 10.6" size, but I suspect that's just not possible until Broadwell.

I get it, some (many?) people want a larger display. But that doesn't mean there should have to be a single size... why not go the Mac route of a Pro 10.6" and a Pro 12" (terrible names, but you get my point).

Probably because they're already pushing the limit of "too many models".

Anyway, I get that, but I personally fit in the latter category and I absolutely love the increased portability that my Pro 2 gives me. I have it with me all the time, whereas I wouldn't be carry a 12" device quite as well (wouldn't fit in my bicycle bag, for example). But of course, thinner and lighter is always nice too.

I don't know. Like I said, I suspect it's just the fact they can't do much more in a 10.6" device without Broadwell.

There's actually 5, so then you have 10 different options, and that's before even we consider the changes you have to make, component-wise, when offering a 12" and a 10.6"

Are you referring to the different specs? That's not really a different model. It's upgrades of the same model. You don't really consider all the different CPUs when you count the many different MacBook models, do you?

Or do you mean the different generation devices? Pro 1 is already phased out, and you'd have to assume the RT 1 will be phased out soon too. If they're still going to be selling Pro 2, then that's not really all that different from selling a Pro 3 10.6" and a Pro 3 12" when it comes to 'having too many models'.

It's moot anyway, I just don't think it makes much sense (unless again, they were limited by still needing to use Haswell).

Just as Apple considers there to be a couple main models of any given computer line, which are differentiated not only by screen size, but by CPU and spec size (see the iMac where there are two separate "models" of 21.5" iMacs),

Just to be clear before I drop this, you're saying if Microsoft was to hypothetically have a newer Pro 10.6" and 12" that have different upgrades, that'd be more confusing than an Air 11, Air 13, Pro 13, Pro Retina 13, Pro Retina 15, each with multiple suggested pre-built configurations and then even more in depth customize-to-order spec upgrades? Really?

How many people code or write books with their laptops on their knees anyway? If you're doing "proper" stuff, you're probably at some kind of stable thing like a desk or table, not on your knees.If you're doing less important stuff you might be on your knees, but I can't imagine people getting deep into coding or writing with their device on their knees unless they are forced into the situation by circumstance, which is something you would mostly try and avoid.

While I definitely do most of my work on my desk, working while lying down on my couch is one of the great joys I've discovered of having a Haswell laptop (my old Core 2 Duo heated up too much and didn't have the battery life to last long) and that I can actually focus more than with the big external screen, the only downside being that I have to crane my neck down a bit. Long before that, I started using a tablet to write python, which used a custom on-screen keyboard to make it even halfway usable, but it felt great to fill up those sleepless nights without getting out of bed. (Not to mention the easy transition to games or books.)

No mention of LTE in the reviews? Jeez, the one thing a LOT of business users have been complaining about with the Pro since the 1st one is lack of LTE. Is Microsoft offering any idea if the Surface Pro 3's will come with an LTE?

No mention of LTE in the reviews? Jeez, the one thing a LOT of business users have been complaining about with the Pro since the 1st one is lack of LTE. Is Microsoft offering any idea if the Surface Pro 3's will come with an LTE?

Don't people just tether? You're already carrying the cell phone.

The problem with that is as far as I know (USA) everyone limits tethering to some degree.

However some carriers (T-Mobile) still offer unlimited high speed data.

I would love a Surface Pro 3 with LTE that I could use on T-Mobile instead of tethering my Surface Pro 1; but then again it is the only thing I use tethering with and would have no need of tethering without it.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.